Running for More Time
by Marie Writer
Summary: When Myka sees Pete die will they finally say those three words or will they run out of time? When time gets turned back... will they have the time or will forgetting the tragedy force them to continue to deny it? Pete/Myka pre-romance and Claudia/Steve friendship are mentioned


_Basically just rewrote it so Myka was with them when Pete died… a more… uhm, romantic twist on Pete's death… I just love angst. :D_

_And I know the way I had her "stay with them" is a little OOC but… I couldn't think of another way… if you can please leave a comment with your idea and I will see about re-writing it… don't worry I will give you credit if I do. You will also receive a message._

_Thank you for reading_

_Enjoy!_

X.x.X.x

Myka looked between the two men as they brainstormed, Artie was mumbling about nothing coherent and Pete was asking his usual clueless questions but she had a plan of her own.

"Stay here."

"Myka, what?" Artie started, "No don't…"

Pete groaned, "Oh I know that look, Myka, wait!" He grabbed her arm and she smiled and put a hand on top of his, his mouth opened and closed – he didn't know what to say but she knew what he wanted to say.

"It'll be fine, Pete… just wait here…" She turned to Artie and released Pete's hand, "get ready to find your tunnel."

With that she spun on her heel, turned the corner, and stalked back into the small diner with her gun drawn. "Hands in the air!" She ordered, her gun pointing between the three men and the stressed out woman, "If you don't get out of this building in the next 10 seconds I will kill myself and then hurt all of you!" She "threatened", Pete and Artie heard from outside and Pete smiled while Artie looked at Pete confused.

Ten seconds later the four startled workers came jogging out of the restaurant and as they passed the two men they tossed dirty looks there way but said nothing aside from that. Pete smirked and Artie shrugged and followed Myka inside.

X.x.X.x

Artie ripped the man out of the elevator and Myka stared at the knife in his chest with furrowed brows and a frown before he stumbled away and collapsed. A moment later Pete was revealed and she paled, something was wrong… he was so still and quiet as he handed Artie the scope. "Pete…" She drawled out the "e" in his name like she always did when she was concerned for him quietly and took a few steps forward as Pete did, gasping when he pulled his jacket away from a bleeding wound in his side. "Pete no…" She breathed and ran to catch him as his legs buckled from under him.

"Everything's okay now right?" He asked breathlessly and Myka looked up at Artie as she balanced Pete in her lap, his back resting on her folded legs and head being held in her left hand, her right pressed into his side. "That hurts Mykes…" He whimpered and Myka looked back down at him. "It didn't at first… but it kinda does now." He laughed airily and looked at her with squinted eyes.

"Stay with me Pete…" She whispered, her eyes darting over his face desperately, "Don't leave me…"

Pete let out a small chuck, she watched as the effort brought blood from his mouth to his lips and winced. "It's okay, I'm okay… it's okay it's okay…" he repeated over and over closing his eyes as he did. Feeling the blood seeping through her fingers she could tell that her pressure was doing little good but she nodded nonetheless and agreed with him.

"Yeah Pete, everything's gonna be alright…" She said as calmly as she could though she heard her voice crack and knew that he didn't really believe it which was proven when he opened his eyes and looked at Artie, "Will I remember…?" he asked his voice dripping with desperation and pain.

Myka felt her lip quiver as she tore her eyes away from Pete to look at Artie as well who seemed to shrink with the intense looks of his "adopted" family, "Remember wha- " he paused, "No… no you won't remember…"

With that Pete looked back at Myka, blinking slowly before offering her a smile which only made her cringe with the blood that stained his lips and teeth making him look morbid… something she wasn't used to seeing in her partner. "Pete…" she breathed as she removed her bloody hand from his side before hesitating to place it on the side of his face, which would only stain his pale skin, but figured it didn't matter anymore she did, "Don't leave me…" she finished with a sad smile, "please…"

Pete blinked again before raising his hand and grasped her forearm tightly, "Myka, I'm sorry… I'm out of time to… to…" he gasped and swallowed hard his eyes glazing over.

"Pete…?" She whimpered and shook him a little her eyes wide; she couldn't lose him again… not again.

"I wish I had more…" His eyes darkened and he seemed to look through her as he drew his last breath and did not release.

Myka stared at him for a moment, her eyes still studying him closely, "P-pete…?" She swallowed hard trying to push down the lump in her throat but he didn't move… didn't blink… didn't sit up and say, "gotcha!" … nothing. Biting her lip she moved her hand up to from the base of his neck to his eyes and closed them gently with her thumb and index finger. The process and what it meant hit her in a matter of seconds and the tears that had been brimming her eyes spilled over and fell down her cheeks in falls.

She had already lost two people in the past few days… now she lost the most important one she had in her life, she brought her head down to his and cradled him close to her in sorrow. After a few moments she looked at Artie who seemed just as dazed and confused as she was, "Artie… tell me I won't remember either…"

Artie frowned as he watched Myka rock back and forth with Pete held close to her chest and swallowed with difficulty as he felt a lump of his own form. After a moment he made a small sound with barely parted lips before he opened his mouth to reply when, suddenly, someone else's voice filled the silence.

"Why…?" He rasped and Myka looked over her shoulder to look at him, slumped over against the far wall. "Why are you doing this?"

Myka hissed, "You killed him!" Her voice cracked from the mixed emotions she was feeling and if looks could kill the man would have been dead already.

"You cannot use it… or you will unlock an evil of your own making…" he warned and Myka pulled herself from under Pete, careful of his head when she let him rest on the damp, stone, floor.

"You expect us to leave the world like this…?" She asked and Artie joined her by her side and looked down at the older, dying, man.

"What kind of evil…?" Artie pushed the more important question and Myka pushed her hair behind her ear exasperated and feeling desperate her hand shook so she crossed her arms across her chest. As the two agents waited for an answer the older man struggled for his last few breaths and before he could reply to either of their questions his eyes went as blank as Pete's had and he let out his final breath with a strangled sigh.

Myka scoffed and stood straight and walked to face the wall with the circuits that had, only moments ago, shocked Artie… the same place where Pete had been. "We can't use that Artie… right?" She asked trying to be reasonable. More than anything she wanted to use it but at what cost?

Artie let out a part laugh, sigh, and cough like he always did when the answer was clear to him but not to anyone else. "You said so yourself… we can't leave the world like this… there is _no _hope left in the _entire_ world!" He said in a low, rough voice that rang in Myka's ear harsher that usual and she felt her fists clench.

"You think I want to live in a world like this? Without Pete or Claudia… HG?" She spun on her heel and stared at Artie with tears shining in her eyes. Shaking her head brought the tears to spill over once more and she sighed and looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to stop them before spreading her arms out wide, "I can't live like this…" she breathed and let her arms fall to her sides, the sound of her hands slapping her thighs echoed in the silent room. "I want to use it, Artie, I really do… but are we prepared to deal with," She pointed at the dead, cult leader in the corner and then quoted her fingers in the air, "an evil of our own making…?"

Artie let out a sigh but Myka didn't stop, "And if we did use it…" she shook her head slowly, her hair falling out from behind her ear and covering most of her face, "I don't want to remember… I don't want to see Pete die again…" she whispered, pain lacing her every word. "Don't let me remember…" She pleaded and pushed her hair behind her ear again, her head tilted to the side in the way she did whenever she was more than a little emotional.

Silence fell over them once again and after a moment Myka made the mistake of looking over to Pete's still body, it seemed like a crime to see him like that… even when she'd find him sleeping he was always moving, making some sort of sound… breathing. Another part of her heart broke away… after all that work Pete had done to put it back together again… after she had sworn she might have been ready for another relationship… seeing him like that made all of it a lost cause. Her heart shattered and for a moment she could have sworn she heard it. All hope truly was gone.

She shuffled back over to Pete slowly and knelt down just as slow while reaching for his, already, cold hand and bringing it to her chest, holding it there. She stared at his face, desperate for him to twitch and come back to her but it didn't happen. It felt like hours as she sat there watching him for some sign of life but in reality she knew it was really only a few seconds before Artie made his presence known again and put a hand on her shoulder. His touch brought a sob to her lips, "It's not right, Artie! It's not right!" she cried and stood, turning into him for an embrace from the father figure.

"I know…" He whispered into her ear while stroking her hair in a sign of comfort… "but I'll tell you what…" he started and pulled away from her before putting both hands on either side of her head, holding her there so she'd look at him. Looking her in the eye he continued, "You won't remember a thing…" he promised, "but you have to run… and don't look back… if you see the light of this artifact… you'll remember just as well as me." He informed with a deep voice that sent shivers down her spine but she nodded nonetheless. Artie smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Go…" he ordered and released his grasp on her.

Myka hesitated as he looked between Pete, Artie, and the exit a few times but a second order for her to run sent her sprinting down the dark tunnel they had come from, tears streaming down her face as she ran as fast as she could not knowing if how far away she was played a part but she didn't care… she wanted to be far away from that horrid place anyway. As she ran she could barely feel the ground from under her and suddenly everything swirled, her vision went completely dark and then she was falling… and smelled fudge.

X.x.X.x

Artie sat in his office chair staring at nothing, Myka hadn't come to him and complained about remembering the deaths of the ones she loved… instead they had all run off and celebrated their victory… except for Claudia who still seemed to be brooding over the loss of her best friend and only partner. Artie knew that they were all a team but partners were another thing entirely and to lose one was the worst of all. For Myka to lose two, one of them on more than one occasion, would have been the end of her. When the evil came he would worry about it… but until then he had brought four people… five if he included Sykes… back to life and that was okay with him.

X.x.X.x

Pete laughed with his team that sat around the table, but his eyes always managed to glance over to one person sitting two seats away. She leaned over the table out of hysterical laughter, her hands gripping the table so not to fall off her chair. Laughing absent mindedly he finally kept his gaze on her for longer than he had the entire night, he had been forcing himself to look at the others between glances before but now… he just couldn't look away. She must have felt his gaze on her because she looked over at him, a bright smile still on her face, eyes soft and unguarded. He offered her a playful wink as casually as he could even though inside he was anything but "feelin' casual", the look she was giving him was making him turn inside out.

Myka's smile faded to a soft grin, her expression somber and suddenly he felt a vibe slither through him for a moment, at the same time that Myka's eyes glassed over. Pete stopped completely and fought the urge to jump up and run to her just in time for her to blink rapidly for a moment, her grin gone and replaced with a thoughtful frown. Nobody else seemed to notice that the two agents were put out but them…

X.x.X.x

Myka gasped a little and blinked a few times to ensure she was still awake, shifting a bit in her chair before remembering where she was she looked back at Pete and took in his worried face before offering him a gentle smile and a wink, much like he had seconds ago. She wasn't sure what just happened but what she saw during her "black - out"… she prayed that it was not a premonition of what was to come. If it was… she was running out of time…

They both were.

X.x.X.x

_Yeah I get it, the ending is a bit lame but I wasn't really sure how to end it… just like I wasn't sure how to begin it. Really the only thing I WAS sure of was Pete's death… I didn't even know how to get Myka not to "remember"… so I winged that too. Hm… let's of "winging it" going on here._

_Anyway… uhm, I hope you liked it and leave a comment with your ideas or opinions… both? _

_Thank you for your time._

_~ Marie ~_


End file.
